By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The 2024-2025 Whitworth men's basketball team begins its chase for another Northwest Conference championship next week. The season opener is Tuesday, November 12th against East Texas Baptist at 11:00 am.
Check the 2024-25 Whitworth men's basketball schedule for links to tickets, video and stats.
The Pirates returned 10 of their 17 players from last season. Of those 10, two are returning starters, who finished 20-9 overall and won the Northwest Conference tournament for the third straight season.
Despite the loss of two of their top three scorers, Damion Jablonski, now in his sixth year as Whitworth head coach, knows that this year is no different in terms of bridging the gap and reloading.
"Every year we have to fill a void from losing several significant contributors from the previous season," Jablonski said. "We take pride in our mantra of 'Tradition Never Graduates,' through our best effort in recruiting and developing our younger players to take over when it's their time."
This season's class of juniors have been waiting their turn and are primed to make a big impact in the starting rotation. "It's clear that they have been working very hard at growing their games!" said Jablonski.
In a similar theme to last year's group, Jablonski highlighted togetherness as a strength of this year's team.
"This team is extremely hungry and connected" he said. "I truly think that you are going to see that manifest through consistent defensive effort and a willingness to share the ball on offense."
After starting four games for the Pirates last season, Garrett Long looks primed to step into the starting point guard role. Coach Jablonski praised his talent and experience and emphasized that "Garrett is poised to be a great leader at PG for us this season."
Diego Jaques is among the class of juniors looking to make a significant impact as he is likely to start at the off-guard position and serve as the primary backup point guard. Junior Ben Nyquist will also play important minutes off the bench.
A slew of freshman will look to provide valuable depth at each backcourt position. Ben Fried will show his skills at point guard while Dylan Westermeyer and Nate Krohn will slide in at the off-guard role.
Junior Stephen Behil appeared in 25 games for Pirates last season and likely will take his explosiveness to the starting wing position. Junior Lucas Meissner and freshman Finnegan Anderson look to provide important depth pieces at this position.
The first of two returning starters for Whitworth is Jake Holtz. Now in his fifth season as a Pirate, Jake will hold down the forward position after averaging 16.1 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game last season. Jake has scored over 1,100 points for the Pirates and Jablonski commended his growth after being a focus for opposing defenses last season.
"His growth at knowing when to attack and when to pass was tremendous last season, and we feel very blessed to have him back for a fifth year!" Jablonski said.
Junior Colton Looney will give Whitworth quality depth at forward along with freshmen Aidan Bews and Jamison Atwood.
Ty Edwards is the Pirates second returning starter from last season after averaging 6.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game at post. Junior transfer Caden Bateman will push for significant minutes after appearing in twelve games for the University of Montana last year. Junior Carson Talbert and senior Craig Mueller will provide size and strength off the bench.
Whitworth will begin its season with two midweek non-conference games. The Pirates host East Texas Baptist on November 12th who finished with a 15-11 overall record last season but won seven of its last eight regular season games. Benedictine comes to Spokane on November 14th after a 16-11 2023-24 season.
Trips to California and Texas highlight the non-conference schedule. The Pirates will play two games in California on November 21st and 23rd before heading back home to host Belhaven and Hardin-Simmons on December 6-7. Whitworth then heads to Texas the week of December 16th to battle Southwestern, Schreiner and Texas Lutheran.
Northwest Conference play opens with four straight home games. The Pirates host Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound on January 3-4, before Willamette and Lewis & Clark come to town on January 10-11.
Whitworth landed atop the 2024-25 Northwest Conference preseason coaches poll with six first place votes and 61 points. Puget Sound and Whitman look poised to challenge Whitworth for a conference championship in February.
